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Rúben Neves came to the rescue for Portugal with a injury-time decisive strike in their World Cup encounter against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Summary

Neves headed home during injury time to snatch a narrow victory, four years after the star striker had scored twice late on to overcome a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of honor with a battling performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat leaves them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a single draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of claiming a qualifying place.

Key Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had hit an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of added time when he directed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, moving above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward provided his team the advantage in the opening period and a teammate secured the victory in second-half stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow loss at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the only goal for Albania with a neat shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K continued as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the away side 12 minutes from time to earn them their first point of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Group E

Spain maintained their impressive Group E campaign with a 2-0 victory over the Georgian side after goals from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The win extended the European champions’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored 11 goals in three games without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that passed most of the match sitting back. The home side dominated the match with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece move, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach commented: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or Israel. We are aware of our responsibilities.”

Italy failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, twice falling short in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now appears their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive hammering over Israel in Group I. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ far superior goal difference means a qualifying place likely beckons for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.